Child carriers are in wide use, particularly relating to use in a car or the like. All of the states now require that some type of child seat be used in automobiles for use with children who are of a size they cannot be protected by the standard seat belt arrangement of the automobile.
Seats have been proposed which have multiple uses, and particularly which may be used with a base or used separately without the base.
Seat base combinations are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,634,177 to Meeker and U.S. Pat. No. 4,729,600 to Single. Such systems are comprised of seats and bases separable from each other. Each base is designed to mate with the associated seat. Additionally, the seat portion has independent utility. In Meeker, the side edges of the infant seat are coupled at two space points to the lateral edges of the base. Uncoupling is effected through the location of a handle located in front of the child. In Single, the infant seat has lower rails on the sides for receipt in parallel recesses of the base. Uncoupling is effected in the center front of the seat through a buckle depending from a belt.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,943,113 to Meeker discloses a restraining system using a seat and a base with the seat being secured to the base at its foot end by means of a J-shaped hook molded to the foot end of the base. The head end of the base is also provided with a releasable coupling mechanism for securing the carrier thereto.
All of the above devices are usable primarily as a car seat, either together or separately, although they could be used as a simple seat when the seat and the base are attached.